"Find Your Rest in God's Salvation!"

Today’s message is really part 2 of where we left off from last week. These messages go together, so if you were not here last week, go back and listen to the message. It will help you see how these two text’s fit together.. The title of our message today is, “Find your rest in God’s Salvation.” Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 4.

Yesterday Jennifer and I went to a funeral. This was no ordinary funeral service. The lady we went to honor yesterday lived to be a 102 years old. She was born in 1919. She was the sweetest and kindness lady you had ever met. But for most of her life she was not a Christian. She told everyone around her that she had always known the Lord, but had never come to trust Christ as her Savior. It wasn’t until days before she passed that she trusted Christ, and admitted she was a fake and gave her life to the Lord. She realized that she had been basing her whole life on her good works, and never really rested in Christ. Today she is resting with the Lord in heaven.

Every generation faces the question of where they are headed and who they will follow. Every generation of Christians must fight to maintain the purity of the gospel proclamation. Getting the gospel wrong, ( how we come to a saving knowledge) results in spiritual death. And I would say that today there are many churches who are sadly teaching the wrong gospel leading people straight to hell. So, the good news of what Jesus has done for us is the only way by which we as sinners can be saved. (Ephesians 2)

When we look around us today the world shouts out to us that there are many way we can enter into heaven.

-Good works.

-Going to church and giving.

-In the Old testament people looked to angels and their leaders for salvation.

So, here in our passage today the author turns his focus to this theme of rest. We see this word rest in all most every verse here in our text. The reason why, is because the author wants us to see that Christ is the only foundation for true spiritual rest. SALVATION. The question is how do we do this? How can we enter into God’s rest???

1.Enter by Faith!

Hebrews 4:1–2 ESV

1 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

I want you to all know today that this entering in the land was a big deal. The land of Canaan that the Israelites were entering had been promised by God to Abraham down through Moses, but it was much more than just getting a piece of property. What it meant was that God’s people would enjoy and enter God’s plan of salvation. In fact, this would be the very place that God would dwell with his people as his temple would be built in Jerusalem.

But what we see happen is that throughout most of the Old Testament, Israel and eventually the Northern and Southern Tribes were disobedient. They were rebellious and they disobeyed God, and because of that, they did not enter His rest. They did not experience God’s salvation.

Sure, some of these people actually entered into the Promised Land physically speaking, however they never truly entered into God’s rest.

So, the author of Hebrews does something very interesting here in verse one. Notice that he begins verse one by using the word therefore. He is reminding his readers of the failure of the Israelites to enter into the rest that God had given them, but he is also challenging the Hebrews not to make this same mistake. We need to trust God today Church.

Both of these groups (the Israelites who left Egypt and the Hebrew audience) had been presented good news. We see this here in verse 2. But the Israelites failed to trust God and disobeyed. We must not be like the Israelites, but continue in our walk with God trusting in what He has done for us

Here are a few things that we need to understand about faith.

-First of all, simply hearing about God and what he has done does not make you a Christian. Just because you have grown up in church, gone to a VBS, taught a Sunday School does not mean you have salvation.

-Second, the right response to faith is trusting God. Israel heard the promises and warnings of God, but did not respond with faith. And that generation all perished in the wilderness.

-The third thing that I want you to know about faith is that it is much more than just a head knowledge of what the gospel is all about. The Israelites had the knowledge of God and what He had done, but they disregarded the word of God and acted disobediently because they never believed.

-Finally, the message of salvation was not any different for those in the Old Testament. The same good news preached in the new covenant was also preached in the Old covenant. Of Course, now that Jesus has come and has revealed the Father we as new covenant believers have a great picture and understanding of how God has acted to save us. However, the old covenant saints were saved by faith in the promises of God just as we are today. The apostle Paul made this clear in Romans when he speaks about Abraham.

Romans 4:21–22 ESV

21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”

Romans 4:23–25 ESV

23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Abraham was justified by faith. And we too enter by faith.

2. Enter with a sense of urgency!

Hebrews 4:3–10 ESV

3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’ ” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5 And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.” 6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

Two important things stand out to us here as we begin verse 3 which notice, repeats itself again in verse 5. Again this potion of Scripture here is a quote from Psalm 95:11.

First, God condemns this wilderness generation for it’s failure to trust God and enter into this rest.

Secondly, the author uses this to show us that those who believe, can enter God’s rest. At the end of verse 3 we see the availability of that rest to all generations since God’s rest started at the foundation of the world. The author of Hebrews backs this up in verse 4 by showing us that as God created the universe and all that is in it, on the seventh day he rested from all his work, and since that day his rest continues to remain.

Now again we see this repetition here in verse 5 which emphasizes the urgency of salvation. When a biblical author repeats himself on the same issue it is repeated because there is a hard-heartedness of a sin-prone people. Church, let me be clear today that this is why we must turn to Jesus. The only way we can come to God and the rest he offers, is by faith in Jesus Christ. If we choose to do nothing, or reject the good news of the gospel, then we will die in the wilderness without God as well.

So today is the day of salvation, in fact this is a message stubborn sinners need to hear over and over again.

Now I want you to look at verses 6-7 with me, because this may be a bit confusing. The author here affirms both David’s authorship of Psalm 95 and the historicity of the events surrounding the wilderness generation. Just as David urged his readers in Psalm 95 to respond to God in faithfulness today, so too does the author of Hebrews. David’s words to the Israelites in his own time are just as valid and urgent now. None of us in this room are guaranteed tomorrow. Today may be the only day we have left. So, as long as you have breath, you have an invitation to faith.

Interestingly here the author reminds us that it was not Moses who led his people into the promise land. Remember, as verse 8 helps us see here that it was Joshua. The author of Hebrews has already emphasized to us that Jesus is greater than the angels, and Moses and now even Christ is superior to Joshua the leader who helped usher his people into the promised land. So, why is this here for us???

It’s here to help us see that Joshua did not lead them into God’s rest. Even in the land of Canaan the people continued to rebel against God. So, how do we enter into this Sabbath rest? The author of Hebrews tells us that we do this by believing in Jesus who is lord of the Sabbath. Jesus leads us into God’s true rest. We rest from our works and trust the work of Christ. The gospel is the message of Christ’s accomplishments on our behalf, so that we might rest from our works and trust in what Jesus has done for us.

3. Enter by God’s Word!

Hebrews 4:11–13 ESV

11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Now verse 11 may sound a bit confusing when we understand it to mean that we strive or do something to enter God’s rest? What this means here is that we need to work against all of our efforts to prove we are self-righteous. We are striving against all of our best efforts and works, and then we lean unto God and His word.

The reason why I want us to understand today that we enter in by God’s Word, is that our knowledge of Jesus as the divine Son of God and all his attributes and his accomplishments for us can only be known through the reading and understanding of Scripture.

Martyn Lloyd Jones in his book, Preaching and Preachers said, “The primary task of the church and the Christian Minister is the Preaching of the Word of God.”

So, the author here shares with us two wonderful characteristics about the Word of God. First, here in verse 12 we see that God’s Word is living and active. Let me be quick to say that God’s Word is not dead or outdated or irrelevant. No!!! As God lives, His very words live. Furthermore when God speaks, God acts. This is what is meant here by the adjective active or effective.

Example = God created the heavens and earth with his word. He spoke them into existence.

God’s Word accomplishes everything that God wills. As the Lord said through his prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah 55:11 ESV

11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

The second thing I want you to see here is that the author of Hebrews points out to us that God’s Word is sharper than a two-edged sword. What in the world is this talking about???

A sword as many of you know is sharp of course and Scripture here has a way that when we hear it can penetrate as far as the soul and spirit, our joints and even marrow. In other words, it can judge the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. As we read and hear Scripture it has a way of untangling the human heart, and shows us the sinners we are. Scripture is like a scalpel wielded by God to perform spiritual surgery that is often needed. To cut away the sinful things that don’t need to be there. God’s Word can cut through our wicked human heart and bring spiritual health that is so desperately needed.

Finally, verse 13 brings to light this shift from God’s Word, to God himself. Here we now see that every man woman and child will be accountable for their lives to God as judge. In fact, we can’t hide from God. Verse 13 tells us that we are all naked and exposed to God. What this means is that God’s Word strips us bear before our own eyes and before the eyes of God. God sees it all. There is nothing that we will not get away with. People may think that, but someday they will give an account of how they lived to God.

So, let me help you today by saying that God gives us His Word this precious gift of Scripture so that we will not follow the example of Israel’s disobedience. The Bible is our guide to trusting God and finding joy and hope in Him. God has given us truth in His Word and that is why we must be students of God’s Word and continue to walk with Him all of our days.

-Have you found rest in God’s salvation offer to you?

-Will you submit your life to Christ today?

-Will you pray for others to come to find their rest in God today?

(Pray and Lead into Communion)

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